Tigers bowl first in T20 WC opener against Scotland

Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad elected to bowl first in their Twenty20 World Cup opener against Scotland after winning toss at Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Muscat, Oman on Sunday.

The Tigers skipper reasoned the effect of dew later at night behind their decision to chase.

"Looks like a good wicket, plenty of runs, but we would like to chase because of the dew," Mahmudullah said after winning the toss.

Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer had no complain to bat first even though he also considered dew an issue later on.

"We were happy either way," Kyle Coetzer said. "Happy to bat first. You put runs on the board, it creates pressure second half. There might be a bit of dew around, but we'll have to deal with that."

Bangladesh came to play this match following their defeats in both of the official practice games against Sri Lanka and Ireland.

Captain Mahmudullah and ace allrounder Shakib Al Hasan however were not part of those two practice matches. Bangladesh hope the return of the two stalwarts would bolster them immensely.

Scotland basically are the main opponent of Bangladesh in their Group B of first round, considering their strength and cricket tradition. They are high on confidence following their win against Netherlands and Namibia in the two official practice games.

Scotland earlier met Bangladesh just once in this format in 2012 at Hague, Netherlands and won that game by 34 runs thanks to a 58 ball-100 of Richie Berrington, who is still a key player of the side.

Line Ups:

Bangladesh: Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Tiyad (captain), Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman.

Scotland: Kyle Coetzer (captain), George Munsey, Matthew Cross (wk), Richie Berrington, Calum Macleod, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Josh Davey, Safyaan Sharif, Brad Wheal.

Source: BSS